Who You Are
by Sivany
Summary: Draco's life is going perfectly well now he's divorced Astoria. That is until he meets a strange Muggle woman who has him rethinking his entire life.
1. Meeting

**Title: **Who You Are

**Disclaimer: **Draco is not mine, nor is his world, I'm just playing there for a while.

**Rating: **M

**Warnings: **Mild smut

**Summary:** Draco's life is going perfectly well now he's divorced Astoria. That is until he meets a strange Muggle woman who has him rethinking his entire life.

**Author's Notes: **This is partly epilogue compliant in that Draco has Scorpius and was in the past married to Astoria (they're divorced now). Neither Scoprius nor Astoria feature very much in the story though. It was quite fun to explore how Draco would interact with the Muggle world and with a Muggle woman. I hope you enjoy reading it :)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Meeting**

"Daddy, watch me, daddy!"

Draco tilted his head back and grinned up at his son's excited face as he hovered overhead on his new broomstick, resisting the urge to tell him to slow down as Scorpius grinned back and then immediately sped off across the lawns. The broomstick couldn't go high enough to be really dangerous and Draco had cast every cushioning charm he knew across the flying area, but he still couldn't help the rush of love and protectiveness that he felt as he watched him.

It wasn't something Draco had ever expected to feel for anyone and he certainly didn't think anyone else had expected it of him either, but it had hit him in one great big, completely insane moment the second Scorpius had been placed in his arms when he was just a few minutes old, and it had been there ever since.

Tomorrow Scorpius would be leaving again and it would kill Draco inside to let him go, in the same way it did every time he had part from him. Not that he wasn't grateful for the amount of time he did get to spend with Scorpius. After the divorce from Astoria the arrangement had worked out mostly in his favour. One weekend with Astoria, one with his parents, one with hers, one with him on top of each and every weekday with Draco because the Manor had been Scorpius' home ever since he'd been born and as far as Draco was concerned that was the way it was going to stay.

Of course the price he paid for that and for the fact that he'd finally lost patience with Astoria and insisted they divorced was the three out of every four Fridays he had to send his son away and resign himself to not seeing him again until Sunday afternoon. It was a price Draco only just considered worth paying and then only because it meant he had some much needed time in the company of adults.

The fact that he spent most of that time drinking in Muggle bars and sleeping with Muggle women was not something he was entirely proud of, but equally was not something he was about to give up.

It was the same routine every weekend, Scorpius would leave, Draco would mooch around the house until the evening and then go off to visit his friends. One of the two nights that would be as far as it would go – dinner or drinks with the few friends he'd managed to keep hold of after the war. They always stayed in; even eight years on there were far too many places the children of Voldemort's ex-supporters were not welcome, and even more people who wanted to make trouble for them. All in all they just found it easier to stay in now than subject themselves to the stares and the comments.

Whichever night they didn't Draco would indulge in something which he had never expected he would ever have considered doing even a few years ago. It was all Blaise's fault really. He had lured Draco to the Muggle bar the first time with tempting promises of anonymity and women who didn't care whether you had money or power or a past, and who could probably be persuaded to come to bed if he turned on that famous Malfoy charm.

By that point Draco hadn't had sex for nearly a year, and he hadn't had good sex for even longer. He'd have been willing to try anything.

Surprisingly it worked. Draco had found the Muggle bar more entertaining than he had thought he would, though the music was odd and Muggles dressed in some seriously strange clothes and the money had taken quite some getting used to. Still, Blaise had been there to make sure he didn't do anything stupid and Draco had gone back to a flat belonging to a woman whose name he could no longer remember, in one of those strange contraptions they called taxis and he'd discovered that Blaise was right about a lot of things.

It had quickly become a routine. One that neither of them would ever have revealed to anyone else. They went out, got drunk and took whatever decent looking women would have them back to bed. Draco had ended up renting an apartment in the middle of Muggle London just to have somewhere to take them to. It was by no means a perfect arrangement. In his more introspective moments Draco could still acknowledge to himself that perfect involved another marriage and someone he could respect and care for and maybe even love, but that was just a fantasy and this was a substitute that was not without its advantages.

* * *

This particular Saturday night he found himself standing in a bar in Muggle London – always one of the classier ones, sipping on a glass of whisky that was nowhere near as good as Firewhisky, but was at least acceptable and watching Blaise flirt outrageously with a tall blonde woman near the door. Draco suspected it wouldn't be long before he had his tongue down her throat, something which Draco very much did not like doing in public.

"Looks like your friend's having fun."

Draco turned to look at the woman who'd appeared next to him. It still surprised him when Muggle women did that. He was too used to witches who knew his name and his reputation and who'd giggled coyly and twisted their hair around their fingers and waited for him to approach them. At least that was how it had worked before his reputation had become so tainted that he'd been pushed into marrying Astoria simply because she was one of the few women who seemed willing to have him after the war.

With Muggles though it was different. They didn't know who he was, to them he was just an anonymous, well-dressed man in the crowd and they often felt no compunction in approaching him.

He'd seen this woman earlier – just a flash of her auburn hair as she laughed with her friends. He hadn't felt inclined to approach her, but now she was here, standing right next to him, he wondered why not. Her hair was rich, long and luxurious, enough to make Draco wonder what it would be like to run his fingers through it. Her eyes were amber, flecked with gold, intense and unwavering as she looked at him and allowed her lips to twitch into a teasing smile when she realised he was simply staring and not even attempting to answer.

He realised at almost the same time and jerked his gaze back towards Blaise. "Yes." He actually wished he could think of something else to say, but his brain seemed to have wandered away – probably from all the alcohol he'd consumed.

"I'm Ria," she said, not seeming to be put off by his lack of reaction. She was holding her hand out as if she expected him to shake it, which Draco knew was not normal Muggle etiquette in a situation like this. All the same he took the hand and enjoyed the feel of her soft skin against his.

"Draco," he said. He hadn't bothered with a fake name ever since he'd realised that some Muggles had pretty strange names as well. Women sometimes commented on its uniqueness, but usually to tell him they liked it. "What's Ria short for?" he asked, simply for something to say because she hadn't actually let go of his hand and it was making him slightly uncomfortable, if only in the region of his crotch, which was completely ridiculous because he was not some sex-starved teenage boy.

"Oh Draco, I can't tell you that," she purred, "It would ruin all the mystery." To his surprise she suddenly tugged on the hand she held, forcing him to lean closer. She was quite tall and only had to tilt her head a little to press her lips against his ear. "Since your friend has disappeared and left you all alone, how about you buy me a drink Draco?"

Bloody hell he was more than willing to buy her a drink. Her closeness had started his blood pounding in his ears and his heart thudding in his chest and it wasn't often a Muggle woman could do that to him. He smirked his consent – because it wouldn't do to look too eager and accompanied her to the bar.

He did buy her a drink, and then another one, and then he invited her back to his flat and had to try and hide his irritation that they had to get a Muggle taxi there, which was a stupid way to travel as far as Draco was concerned, especially when it meant he had to wait fifteen minutes longer to find out exactly how Ria's lips would feel against his.

He couldn't be too cross though because she had gazed at him and smiled at him and sometimes fluttered her hand over his thigh and his arm in the taxi and even though his clothes were in the way that had sent little tingles of anticipation running through his skin so that by the time they reached his door and he had unlocked it with a key and discretely released the wards with his wand he was practically breathless with desire anyway.

Then Ria was gliding through the door as if she owned the place, looking around at the furniture speculatively and running her hand along the walls until she came to a stop in the middle of the sitting area and turned her amber eyes on him with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Well, Draco, I never had you down as someone who lived in a place like this."

"I don't live here all the time." He wasn't sure what had compelled him to such honesty, and he cursed the fact that his voice sounded thick and gravely as if he had something stuck in his throat. He coughed and said, "Where did you imagine I lived?" just to buy himself some time to get his brain back in gear. Her bare legs, covered only to the knee by the floaty skirt of her green dress looked incredible in her heels. They even looked good a moment later when she eased the shoes off her feet and tossed them to one side. Draco eyed her appreciatively as she took a step towards him.

"Oh you know," she said lightly, "You look like you belong in a country mansion somewhere. Probably one with a lake I'd imagine."

The odd choking noise he made in his throat at that was not at all dignified, but it was so damn close to the truth that Draco just couldn't help himself. Why had she said that? He opened his mouth to ask the question, but she cut him off because somehow she had closed the distance between them without him noticing and now she was winding her arms around his neck. The brief thought flicked through his brain that he didn't usually let women take control like this before she tugged his head down and brought their lips together in a kiss filled with heat and passion and enough longing that Draco had to swallow back a moan of desire.

Merlin, he needed to get a grip.

He did. He gripped her hips with one hand and tangled the other in her hair, but it turned out that it was as soft and silky as it looked and the realisation really did make him moan into her mouth. He forced himself to pull away then, if only because his head was swirling in a way that had nothing to do with alcohol.

Ria looked at him speculatively as he pushed her away a little. "I bet you've got a four poster bed too Draco," she purred, with another of those seductive smiles she'd been flashing at him all evening, "Are you going to show it to me?"

"Oh yes." The slight pause had given him back some of his sense and some of his control and he was trying desperately to ignore the smile that threatened to take it all away again. Instead he scooped her up in his arms, which made her give a surprised squeak and wrap those long legs around his waist which was exactly the reaction he had wanted. After that it wasn't hard to carry her through to the bedroom and peel off that pretty green dress to see exactly what was hiding below it.

It turned out to be physical perfection, at least as far as Draco was concerned. She was all long slender lines and lean curves, just enough to make her feminine but not enough that he couldn't nip and suck at her delicate collarbones and scrap his teeth over her hip bones and elicit enchanting little noises from her that he couldn't have named if he'd tried.

Not that she was passive. She met him with kisses and licks of her own, with soft fingers and sharp nails and just the right amount of pressure with her teeth when she bit down on his neck in exactly the right spot to make him hiss and arch his back involuntarily. He was lost in a haze of pleasure even before he buried himself inside her and after that he was completely lost as his mind spiralled into white-hot oblivion and crashed dizzily back to earth in what seemed like endless, glorious moments of ecstasy.

He wrapped himself around her afterwards and fell asleep, which wasn't something he always did but he did it often enough that it certainly wasn't unusual and he didn't give the action a second thought.

* * *

When he awoke the next morning he was still wrapped around Ria, which actually was unusual because most of the time he moved in his sleep. Apparently he hadn't last night. It was novel enough that he relished the warmth and the softness of her skin for long, lazy minutes before he resigned himself to getting up and beginning the delicate dance that accompanied the morning after.

Some women were happy just to leave straight away; some women were happy to leave only after he'd given them false promises to call them on those Muggle devices they used; and some women – the ones he tried to identify and avoid before things got this far – refused to believe that he would call and were enough trouble that he'd considered the possibilities of obliviating their memories more than once. He never had, his charm had usually won through.

Thankfully he managed to extract himself from the bed without waking Ria and he pulled on a pair of black pyjama pants before he went through to the kitchen. He had learnt how to make tea the Muggle way simply because he hated not being able to drink a cup first thing in the morning and it was too risky to use any magic when a Muggle woman could walk in any moment.

"I don't like coffee."

Draco came very close to giving an undignified jump at that, but he managed to steady himself and risked glancing over his shoulder at Ria. He was glad he'd only given a glance because she'd pulled her dress back on and was standing leaning against the kitchen door frame with her arms folded and her hair mussed in a way that honestly looked like she'd done it deliberately and the whole effect was rather charming. Draco really hoped she hadn't seen the slight tremor in his hand as he opened the cupboard and pulled out some teabags.

He did make her a cup of tea, simply because she'd been so blatantly expecting one that he felt it would be rude not to. He'd done this before for women, though actually Muggle women seemed to drink coffee in the morning, which he had learnt to tolerate the smell of only after several tries. It still made him feel nauseous if he was honest, but at least it didn't actually make him wretch anymore.

Ria accepted the cup of tea, narrowed her eyes at him as if she was suspicious of his motives for giving it to her, despite the fact that she'd practically asked for it, and then to his surprise wandered away to look out of the window. Then again, why shouldn't she? True not many women noticed the view, but the floor to ceiling windows of his penthouse apartment did give an impressive panorama of the London skyline. Draco had not skimped on luxury for himself even in the Muggle world, though Blaise told him it was why some of the Muggle women were so reluctant to leave. He hoped Ria wasn't going to be one of them.

Since she didn't seem inclined to say anything Draco took his own tea and sat down on one of the couches in the living area. He didn't actually sit on them very often, since he didn't usually hang around in the morning beyond a quick shower or the occasional persuasive argument he had to use to get a woman to leave.

"It's very impressive."

Ria was looking at him now over the rim of her cup, regarding him with that penetrating amber stare that Draco was starting to believe could read all the thoughts on the inside of his head. He really hoped it couldn't.

"What is?" he asked, because he had a feeling she wasn't just talking about the view. Sure enough she swept her arm around in a wide arc that took in not just the windows, but the entire apartment. Then she raised her eyebrows and went through to the bedroom. He heard her moving around in there, but right now he didn't think he was in any fit state to go and see what she was doing. He really needed a hangover potion he though, and perhaps even a sobriety charm. There had to be some reason he still felt as drunk as he did.

He was seriously considering whether he should risk digging out his wand and performing one whilst she wasn't in the room when she came back. She had her shoes on now and Draco found himself rising to his feet without really thinking about it.

"Thank for the tea," she said and he found that he had taken the cup off her when she had offered it. "See you around Draco." She kissed his cheek and then was gone, sauntering out the door as if this was perfectly normal.

Well, he though, as he went to place the cups in the kitchen where he would send a house-elf to clean them up later, some women did leave just like that. He really should be grateful that Ria was one of them. Screaming and shouting and tears were really so undignified.

With that thought firmly in mind he headed back to the bedroom, summoned his clothes into his arms and Apparated home. Scorpius would be back later and he was very much looking forward to seeing him.


	2. Testing

**Author's Notes: Thank you for the review Armania :) Yes, this is mostly already written.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Testing**

The next weekend they went out on a Friday because Theo was planning on throwing a birthday dinner for his wife on the Saturday and Draco had agreed to attend.

Sometimes he would see women out that he had slept with before, especially when they went back to the same bar in the way they were doing this weekend. Ria wasn't there though and Draco managed to charm a perfectly acceptable young woman into his bed as a substitute.

He gave only brief thought to the fact that he was thinking of her as a substitute for Ria, because why on earth would he need a substitute for a one night stand?

* * *

"So do you come here often?"

Draco did give an undignified jump this time when that all too familiar voice purred those words into his ear. Somehow he had persuaded Blaise to come back to this place again and this time he'd made sure they came on a Saturday. He'd been preoccupied in watching Blaise have an argument with the blonde from a fortnight ago – one of the reasons why they never usually frequented the same place too many times in a row, and hadn't seen Ria approach.

He tried to cover up the unseemly response to the shock by turning around as slowly as possible. It didn't particularly help because she was wearing a grey dress that strangely matched the colour of his eyes and it was high necked and long sleeved and so damn short that Draco thought it was probably illegal to show that much leg. Especially when the legs were that good looking.

He licked his suddenly dry lips and then tried to pretend that he hadn't.

"As often as you it would seem." He tried to keep his voice light and casual as if his heart rate hadn't just doubled in the space of a few seconds.

Ria pulled a face that Draco would have hated on anyone else, but which on her looked rather enchanting. "I don't know why," she said equally lightly, "It's so boring." He definitely hadn't been prepared for the arm that hooked around his neck after that declaration. "Why don't you entertain me Draco?"

Oh Merlin. It wasn't often that he kissed women in places like this. He preferred to rely on his charms alone to lure them back to his bed because kissing in public was terribly uncouth in his opinion. He was more than prepared to break the rule now though and he dipped his head to capture her lips before he'd really thought about whether this was a good idea.

It really didn't help that she latched on to his mouth and nipped and sucked at his lips like she was some sort of expert and made Draco dizzily wonder if this was what he'd been missing by not sleeping with the same woman more that once in all this time because Ria seemed to know exactly what to do to his mouth to make him want to groan with desire and lose himself in her completely.

That they managed to get a taxi _and _managed to get into his apartment was something of a minor miracle as far as Draco was concerned. He had no idea how it had happened, but they were here and they were frantically pulling at each other's clothes the second they made it through the door. They only made it as far as the couch in the end, which was quite far enough as far as Draco was concerned because his body was thrumming with desire and he thought that if he didn't get some sort of relief soon he might actually faint from lack of blood to the head.

When that relief came Draco let out a cry that he thought might actually tear his throat in two and felt Ria climaxing around him in a vague sort of way because the pleasure had wiped out every other thought it his mind except for how good she felt and how much he had needed this.

Of course they couldn't stay on the couch all night and Draco wasn't inclined to kick her out so he carried her to bed and found that actually he had more than enough stamina to repeat the whole experience. This time it was more measured and Draco found that his thoughts were calmer and his body nearer to sated and that meant he could concentrate on her. On touching and kissing and exploring and learning exactly what would make her feel good and exactly what made her writhe and moan and act as if she was as out of her mind with desire as he'd felt before. She was beautiful when she came he realised, all flushed cheeks and flashing amber eyes and lean curves that arched perfectly away from the bed and made him hungry for more.

He brought her to one climax with his fingers and then when he joined their hips again held back until he managed to push her to her third of the evening, forcing his own pleasure to the back of his mind temporarily just so he could keep his eyes open and watch her fall apart around him in that deliciously tantalising way. It pushed him too close to the edge in the end and his own orgasm followed soon after.

They fell asleep wrapped around each other again when morning came he realised that once again he hadn't moved all night.

* * *

Draco had managed to extract himself without Ria stirring again and went to the kitchen to make himself some tea. He made some for her to because he felt it was only polite to do as much for her as he had last time. When he returned to the bedroom however, she wasn't there and he could hear the sound of the shower running in the bathroom beyond.

He raised an eyebrow at that and wondered if this was a sign he'd gone too far in sleeping with her twice. Did she now think it was acceptable to practically move in with him and make use of whatever facilities she took a fancy too? He really hoped not.

It was ten minutes before she emerged, dressed and with her still damp hair secured in some sort of twist on top of her head. She grinned at him and accepted the tea he held out, taking a large gulp of it as she dug around in her bag for something, taking out various items and dumping them on the dresser.

When she finally found what she was looking for – and Draco was giving some serious thought to just how she managed to fit so much stuff into such a small bag, he realised it was a watch. She looked at it and then wrinkled her nose.

"Sorry," she said finally breaking the silence that Draco was surprised to realise hadn't been too uncomfortable, "I'm supposed to be meeting my mother and sister for brunch today. There wasn't time to go home and shower. I can't be late, we're picking out wedding dresses." Draco realised he must have looked horrified at this piece of information because she chuckled as she shoved the watch and other things back in her bag and took another drink of tea. "My sister's wedding dress," she explained over the edge of her cup, "She's the one getting married."

"Oh." Draco let out a relieved breath at that. He didn't like the idea of Ria being engaged on so many levels he wasn't even going to bother trying to explain them all to himself.

"I really do need to hurry though," she said setting the empty cup down and looking at him with what seemed to be a hint of regret.

"Do you want me to call you a taxi?" He had called one before for other women. It was the least he felt he could do when they weren't making a fuss about leaving and the idea of doing something useful for Ria was unexpectedly appealing.

She subjected him to a long look. It was a look that made Draco feel as if she was contemplating his skill at ordering taxis rather than whether she actually wanted one.

"Why not," she said in the end, tilting her head in a way that suggested she was issuing a challenge and waiting to see how he rose to it. He wondered vaguely whether ordering muggle taxis was something that was particularly hard. None of the other women had acted like it was, but then Draco always left the actual ordering of the taxi to someone else. He had no idea how it was done.

All the same he had made the offer and needed to follow through on it. He went through to the living area and picked up the- well the muggle communication thing. Someone had explained to him when he'd rented the place that if he picked it up and dialled zero then he could speak to the man who sat behind the desk at the entrance to the building. The man could arrange for a long list of services, should Draco ever have need of them. He'd forgotten what most of them were, but summoning taxis was most definitely one of them.

Draco raised the… thing, to his ear and waited until the strange noise stopped and someone answered. It never took long. He'd been nervous the first time he'd done this, but he'd seen muggles using similar devices out in the bars. You held it to your ear and talked into it, it was simple really and holding it the right way up was hardly rocket science since it had numbers on it, though admittedly hearing someone's voice come out of the thing straight into his ear had nearly made him throw it across the room the first time it had happened.

That had been then though, now he considered himself a competent user of the muggle device and he spoke confidently when the man answered, well aware of Ria watching him with interest.

"I'd like a taxi please." He waited until the man asked a follow up question and responded with, "Immediately. Thank you," before he replaced the thing in its special holder.

He turned finally to see Ria looking at him with a charming smile that suggested he'd done something incredibly impressive. He had no idea why, but he was more than willing to smile back, especially when she walked slowly towards him and placed a hand on his chest. "Thank you, Draco." Her lips pressed against his just briefly and then she pulled away. "See you around."

She was gone, out the door before he could respond.

Not that he had any clue what he would have said.

* * *

He tried not to think about Ria too much after that. It was fairly easy for the first week simply because it was his turn to have Scorpius with him all weekend and that was more than enough to take his mind of all other things whilst he was around. He was doing his best to raise Scorpius differently to how he'd been raised, something that was made much easier by the fact that his son seemed to have inherited the best of his mother's and father's personalities, rather than the worst. He was an undemanding child, with Astoria's calmness and Draco's loving nature. That he had a loving nature hadn't actually been obvious to him until Scorpius was born and it wasn't something he showed very often to anyone except his son, but with proof of it living in the same house as him he could no longer deny that he valued love above much else. He wanted to be loved and accepted by someone else in the way that his son loved and accepted him.

Too bad the only people that accepted him were muggles, and despite the fact that he'd long ago got over his prejudices towards them Draco still didn't believe he could ever love or marry one of them. They were just too strange in their ways and he was not the sort of person who would be comfortable hiding his own magical nature.

No, he'd just have to wait and hope that one day enough of the past would be forgiven and forgotten that a witch might decide to give him a chance. Some days he thought it might happen, but most of the time he despaired of the possibility.

In the meantime his weekend with Scorpius came and went and Draco once again joined Blaise for their usual Saturday nights out.

The first was not too bad. He'd found a pretty woman who'd been more than willing to entertain him back at his apartment, and had left even before morning. It was certainly convenient, but Draco didn't mind them staying until morning. In fact in the depths of his heart he preferred them to stay till morning, so long as they didn't cause any trouble, because it meant he didn't have to sleep alone.

The second Saturday he'd found a woman who had wanted to stay, but she'd been so dreadful in bed that Draco had very nearly refused to go out the weekend after, claiming that he was physically damaged by the experience. It was only because Blaise would accept no such excuse and had all but dragged him to his favourite haunt that Draco consented to go at all.

This woman had been much better in bed. She was still in his bed in the morning as well and Draco had decided that she was probably going to cause him a bit of trouble, because she was looking at him with narrowed eyes after he'd promised to call her if she wrote down her number.

"What's your number?" she asked in return. He shrugged. He didn't have done of those muggle things and though he'd been asked the question before most women had taken his nonchalant shrug as a sign that they weren't going to get anything more out of him. This woman however was more persistent. "You don't know your number?"

When he shook his head and gave another shrug her face twisted into a scowl. "Liar."

Well it wasn't a lie so he didn't feel any guilt in saying, "I don't have one."

That infuriated her, judging by the look on her face. Draco was trying to remember her name. Remembering a woman's name really helped in situations like this. Unfortunately he couldn't remember if hers was Casey or Karen, or whether actually that was the name of the woman from last week.

"Liar," she spat again, "You're not going to call me. All you men are the same, just looking for a quick fuck. What makes you think you can treat women like that?"

"If you don't want to be treated like that don't go to bed with men you don't know." It seemed a logical to him, but as he'd suspected she was beyond logic.

"Oh why don't you just fuck off?" At least she followed that up by getting up and storming to the bedroom door. He sighed in relief, at least until he heard the crash of breaking glass from the living area. That made him shoot to his feet, glad that he'd already dressed.

He entered the living area just in time to see her hurl yet another glass ornament across the room and winced as it smashed against the wall. He wasn't particularly bothered about the ornament itself – he'd rented the apartment fully furnished and none of the things in here belonged to him – but he really didn't appreciate her making such a mess.

""What the hell are you doing?" The next ornament was aimed at him. He ducked and as it smashed on the wall behind him, seriously considered getting his wand.

"Fucking prick!" The woman was shrieking now, worked up beyond all reasoning, "All you men are fucking pricks!"

There was probably, Draco thought, some way to diffuse a situation like this, but he had neither the patience nor the knowledge to do so, instead he decided that the best thing to do was to get rid of the situation all together. The woman went to pick up a fourth ornament, a vase that Draco didn't even recognise, but he cut her off, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her easily off the floor. She lashed out, but Draco was prepared to risk the injury as he strode to the door.

It swung open as he approached, the one bit of wandless magic he was prepared to use at the moment because he didn't think the woman was in any position to notice. He dropped her unceremoniously in the corridor, still screeching and then was back inside with the door shut before she managed to get to her feet.

He summoned his wand and as the woman began to hammer on the door still screaming, Draco warded it, sealed the edges and cast a charm that prevented her noise from being heard inside the flat. She'd get bored and go away soon hopefully and it didn't really matter how long that took because Draco could apparate away from inside anyway. He did so now and once back at Malfoy Manor tried to soothe his thoughts by reading the new set of alchemical scrolls he'd received the day before.

He was definitely thinking about Ria now.


	3. Dancing

**Author's Notes: **Sorry it has taken me so long to upload this! It's been written ages but I just haven't had time to divide it up into chapters and get it up online. Netx chapter should be much quicker!

The song they dance to is "She's Always A Woman To Me" by Billy Joel.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Dancing**

By the time another fortnight had passed, including his precious weekend with Scorpius at home, Draco had decided that he'd got over the trauma enough to venture out again the following weekend. Blaise was insisting they went to the opening of a new bar, and Draco was trying desperately not to admit to himself that one of the reasons he was going was that it was just down the road from where he'd met Ria and therefore it was just possible she might turn up.

He was not disappointed. He was listening to Blaise espouse on the virtues of various women in the room when he spotted the flash of auburn hair by the bar that he knew could belong to no one else and he was indulging in tracking her around the room, watching her lips curve into a smile as she spoke with her friends when Blaise interrupted by waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Are you listening?"

It was so blatantly obvious that he hadn't been that Draco didn't even deign to reply; he just let his eyes wander back across the room, forcing Blaise to turn his head to see who he was watching.

"You've been with her before."

Actually Draco hadn't realised Blaise had been taking that much notice on previous occasions and that was enough to get him to turn and look at the other man with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw you with her in that other bar about a month back. Not thinking of breaking our little rule are you?"

Merlin, had it really been a month? That probably explained why his body was reacting quite so violently to her presence. Already his palms were sweatier than he was really comfortable with and he was pretty sure his cheeks had flushed.

"That was a month ago," he said defensively, knowing he would have to say something, "And she was very good."

Blaise shook his head. Draco could see that his gaze was still on Ria, but Draco couldn't bring himself to look just yet. He was well aware that Blaise would think he was doing him a 'favour' if he dragged him away now and Draco really needed to talk him out of that action.

"Oh well, looks like I don't need to worry anyway," Blaise said, sliding his eyes back towards Draco, "Someone else got there first."

Draco whipped his head around so fast his muscles protested. There was a man talking to Ria, not just talking either, but smiling charmingly and touching her arm and leaning in far too close for Draco's liking. He spluttered indignantly, completely ignored Blaise's knowing look and slammed his drink down on the table.

Threading his way through the crowded room to where Ria was standing seemed to take forever and Draco suspected he'd been rude to more than one person in shouldering them out the way, but he didn't particularly care. By the time he reached Ria he was pleased to see she was leaning away from the man and that his hand was no longer on her arm. She was shaking her head as well. Apparently she was no keener on the idea of the man touching her than Draco was.

Smirking at that though he stepped up besides her and placed a hand on her shoulder. There was a split second where she seemed surprised and then her lips curved into a smile. "Draco, my favourite person," she purred, sending an involuntary shudder down his spine because she might just be using him to drive away the other man, but damn it she really sounded like she actually meant it.

"Hello, Ria." It was all he had right now, but it didn't much matter because Ria's arm was snaking around his waist and she was tilting her face towards his, and Draco, who could think of no good reason to deny her what she clearly wanted, leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss surged fire through his veins and he tangled his fingers in her soft hair, pulling her closer with his other arm and losing himself entirely in the moment. Had it really been over a month since he'd indulged in this? It felt like just yesterday and yet like forever at the same time. She was so familiar and yet so new. Every flick of her tongue and touch of her hand burnt like flame and made him want more of her everything.

Only when she pulled away did he finally try to get his thoughts in order, aware that he was blinking down at her rather blankly.

"I think we should leave," she murmured, biting her lip in what Draco considered an unnecessarily provocative way. Unnecessary at least in the sense that it was making certain parts of his anatomy twitch uncomfortably and he was going to find it very difficult to walk in a minute.

All the same he completely agreed. There was a taxi ride that consisted mostly of kissing and a ride in a lift that involved most of Draco's shirt coming undone and then they were through the door of his apartment and the rest of their clothes came off and against the door seemed a perfectly reasonable place to indulge their passion,

They made it to the bed eventually and at some point they must have gone to sleep because Draco awoke the next morning with Ria crawling over him and grinning in a way that suggested she wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. For once Draco didn't care. He never had sex with women the morning after, but then he never had sex with the same woman more than once so it was a bit late to be worrying about the rules now.

There was a lot to be said for morning sex Draco reflected afterwards, and there was a lot to be said for a vision of auburn haired beauty handing him a cup of tea whilst inexplicably wearing his shirt rather than her own clothes as she sat herself down cross-legged on the bed.

"You didn't decorate this place did you?" It was an odd comment. One that made Draco blink and sit himself up a little more stiffly. Ria's eyes were wandering over the bed thoughtfully. It was, as she had predicted the first time he'd slept with her, a four-poster bed, but it was modern: black wood frame with a white gossamer canopy and hangings – no colour anywhere in sight. In fact the entire flat was like that, all monochrome furnishings and sharp lines and shiny metals. Draco found it calming and functional, if a little cold, and hadn't bothered to change it once he'd started renting it. What would be the point? He didn't live here and there was no accounting for muggle tastes.

"It came furnished," he said in the end after he'd decided the information was in no way suspicious. If they'd been renting it out furnished it must be fairly normal and besides she already knew he didn't live here all the time. It could hardly get any worse.

"I didn't think this would be to your taste." Ria seemed to have a habit of examining him over the rim of cups. The thought occurred that perhaps she was doing it to hide a smile.

"What do you think my taste is?" He couldn't resist the chance to ask, the thought of finding out how she saw him was too tempting to pass over.

"Oh I don't know," she waved a hand airily, and yes, she was definitely using that cup to hide a smile because it had reached her eyes now. "Something more old fashioned. Dark wood maybe, and I think you probably like more colour – maybe greens and blues."

Draco could think of some other colours he liked right now, like soft amber flecked with gold, and rich auburn that shone in the morning sunlight. For a moment he was too distracted to realise that she had described the Manor's décor pretty accurately. He did like dark green and deep hues of blue, and of course the furniture was mostly dark wood since it was old and certainly old fashioned. She was grinning at him mischievously now, as if she'd uncovered some deep, dark secret of his, or possibly it was just because he was gaping at her a little stupidly. He snapped his mouth shut and tried to frown.

"What's wrong with the décor here?"

Ria looked surprised. "Nothing's wrong with it. It's just not very you."

"I don't know why you think you know so much about me." Did that sound petulant? He hadn't meant it to, but then it was slightly annoying that she seemed to think she knew him when he could honestly say he didn't know much about her at all. Certainly he couldn't read her the way she seemed to read him.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't." There was that mysterious smile again before she rose gracefully to her feet and placed her cup on the bedside table. "I'm going to use your shower again before I go if you don't mind."

He didn't mind, but Ria was still wearing his shirt and the deep green brought out her colouring in a way Draco just couldn't resist. He reached out and slid his hand around her waist. "Come here." There was no resistance as he tugged her backwards and into his lap where he immediately captured her lips in a soft kiss. There was nowhere to be just yet and Draco thought he might as well indulge, just in case he didn't get to see her again for another month.

* * *

There was the inevitable lecture from Blaise about the fact that he'd left with Ria again. The only saving grace was that as far as Blaise was concerned it was only the second time he had done so. Draco really didn't feel like correcting him so he nodded his head in all the right places and said he wasn't planning on doing it again when in his heart of hearts he knew that if he saw her again he probably would.

He spent a long week thinking about her more than he should and the Saturday after searching surreptitiously for her, glad that Blaise had wanted to return to the same place for once. It was late when he finally spotted her, just stepping in the door with her friends and the only advantage to that was the lateness of the hour meant Blaise was already well and truly occupied with his woman to choice for the evening. Draco objected to public displays of affection on the grounds that it was uncivilised, but Blaise had no such compunction and for once Draco was relieved, rather than appalled, to see him with his tongue down some muggle's throat.

It meant that he was able to sidle up to Ria without Blaise realising that Draco was breaking his rule again and the fact that Ria immediately tilted her face up to him in that alluring way which made him completely forget his rule and kiss her as if he would drown without her really didn't seem to be a problem. It was so easy to slip away with her to a taxi and taking her back to his apartment and falling into bed with her felt so right and so wonderful that Draco's head was spinning and his body was tingling and he didn't even need to _think_ about this because it was as natural as breathing.

He lay afterwards listening to her breathing even out as she fell asleep against his chest and wondered what on earth he was doing. This was the fourth time now, and apart from a few exchanges they'd never actually spoken. They met by chance and they slept together and then they parted not knowing if they'd see each other again. It was ludicrous and dangerous. What was he thinking? What was she thinking for that matter?

Draco vaguely entertained the thought that she was trying to lure him into a relationship, but then he dismissed the notion simply because she'd never given him any indication that she wanted anything of the sort. She hadn't even asked for his number as some muggle women did. She seemed happy just to take whatever he would give and then disappear from his life. If they never met again, would she even care?

He sighed and rolled a little in the bed trying to get more comfortable. Ria shifted against his shoulder and murmured sleepily.

Did she think about him in between their encounters? He certainly thought about her. It was getting to the point now where Scorpius was starting to notice he was distracted half the time, something which Draco was not happy about because his son was more important to him than anything in the world. It was unfortunate that his brain seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to concentrate on anything except an image of auburn-haired perfection that smiled alluringly and pulled him away from reality into fantasies that could never be.

She was a muggle. He couldn't date a muggle.

Another sigh. He shifted again, rolling so he could gaze down at Ria's face, softened by sleep, long eyelashes fluttering delicately against pale cheeks.

"Go to sleep, Draco."

Maybe she wasn't asleep after all. A hand came up and smoothed at his hair before winding around his waist to pull him closer. He let her, gathering her to his chest to form a cocoon of their shared body heat. Maybe he would never see her again after tonight, but he might as well enjoy her whilst he had her.

He fell asleep and dreamt of a fantasy that could never be.

* * *

Morning came too quickly and Draco pushed aside melancholy thoughts from last night in favour of concentrating on the here and now. Here contained Ria and now she was kissing along his collarbone and clearly only had one thing on her mind. Draco surrendered himself to the moment and let Ria set his body alight with an ecstasy only she seemed to be able to induce.

Afterwards he got up once the haze of pleasure had cleared from his mind and went to make her some tea. It seemed the least he could do.

It was whilst he was waiting for the kettle to boil that the sound of music came from the living area. He poked his head through the door and saw that Ria had once again decided to don his shirt rather than her own clothes. Vaguely he wondered whether she did it because she knew how good his shirts looked on her, and then decided that she definitely did because her hips were swaying confidently to the beat of the music and a moment later she had lifted her hands above her head and was moving her whole body.

Her back was to him and the song had one of those slow bass-heavy beats that Draco always thought only women could possibility look good dancing to. Any man he'd ever seen dancing to a song like this always looked vaguely uncomfortable, as if he knew that there was no way to compete with the sheer sex appeal women like Ria could give off when they did this. Although she was looking Draco had a feeling she knew she was being watched. A suspicion that was confirmed a moment later when she glanced over her shoulder and threw him a grin of such wicked depravity that he was forced to make a dignified retreat back into the kitchen just to stop himself from running across the room and ravishing her against the nearest wall. It was a source of great embarrassment to him to realise that his hands were shaking as he made the tea.

By the time he was done the song had finished and he felt it safe to peer back through the door, clutching his own cup to his chest as if it might somehow shield him from any further displays of dancing that might be on offer. Ria was fiddling with one of the strange muggle machines that the flat contained, and it was obviously where the music was coming from because a moment later another song started. This one was gentler. Draco had heard it before, in the sort of sophisticated wine bars he and Blaise frequented quite often, where the music was softer and more sensuous and sometimes live.

_She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes  
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies.  
_

This time Ria's smile was a lot softer too and she opened her arms and began to move around the room as if waltzing with some invisible partner. Draco had to admit she was as graceful and as elegant as he could have hoped, and from the few seconds he managed to spend focusing on her feet, rather than the curving lines of her body or the golden light in her eyes, it seemed she did know how to dance.

_And she only reveals what she wants you to see  
She hides like a child, but she's always a woman to me._

She was looking at him now, a curious glint in her eyes. One hand came up and she beckoned him over, inviting him to join the dance. A voice inside told him he shouldn't, but his body had reacted without waiting to hear what his brain had to say and he'd placed his cup down on a table and moved across the room before he realised it probably wasn't a good idea to dance with a woman he was just supposed to be having sex with.

It was obviously too late though now. He was already here and Ria was already taking his hand. He might as well go along with it. If it turned out badly there would be time to worry about that later. Right now there was Ria's hand in his and the other one on his shoulder and he was holding her and guiding her around the floor as effortlessly as if they'd been doing this all their lives. She _could _dance. Very well. Better than some of the supposedly well-trained pure-blood girls Draco had been forced to dance with in his lifetime.

It wasn't particularly romantic. He didn't pull her close and she didn't rest her head on his chest. She didn't even lock her gaze with his. Her eyes darted around the room more often than not, obvious amusement gleaming in their depths. Only the fact that Draco had unshakeable confidence in his own ability to dance prevented him from being offended at that. Whatever it was that was amusing her it wasn't him.

She can't be convicted, she's earned her degree  
And the most she will do is throw shadows at you,  
But she's always a woman to me.

They moved silently to the music until it ended and then what was romantic in Draco's opinion was the way she suddenly settled her gaze on him, all intense flashing amber eyes filled with fire and conviction, that seemed to read his every thought. His breath caught in his throat and then they were kissing. He wasn't sure who had moved first, or whether they both had, but it was deep and passionate and so meaningful that Draco felt that it reached his very soul, although his soul had no idea what the meaning actually was.

"You're a good person Draco, why don't you know that?"

They'd broken apart. Draco thought he only knew that because his lips were suddenly cold. His eyes were welded shut but they popped open at her words and he knew he must have looked shocked. He made several attempts to speak, but his throat was dry and his tongue seemed to have stuck itself to the roof of his mouth. The look she was giving him, a half frown, as if he'd just confirmed something very important which she found slightly offensive, really wasn't helping matters.

"I…What?" It wasn't a good start. "What are you…?"

He trailed off, because she was smiling now and shaking her head, looking much more like the Ria who'd teased him about the decoration of his apartment last week. "Did you make me some tea?"

He nodded, because he really couldn't think what else to do and she broke away from his embrace, heading for the kitchen. "Of course you did," she called as she went, "Because you're a good person. You see what I mean?"

He didn't, so he shook his head and followed after her to retrieve his own cup. He was quite glad when she followed him back through to the bedroom and curled up against him as he sat on the bed. It was so easy and so comfortable to slip an arm around her and sit there in silence whilst they finished their tea. He had no idea what she was talking about with her little declaration before, but it had shaken him in a way he really couldn't explain and right now he wanted to hold her.

He tried not to let it disturb him that up until now the only person he'd been happy to cuddle was a certain little four year old who had stolen his heart.


End file.
